Sri Lanka’s prison visitor tracking system has quietly collapsed, raising serious concerns about security, transparency, and the monitoring of prisoner visits across the country.
A major shift has reportedly taken place inside Sri Lanka’s prison administration after the PIMS computer system used to record prison visitor information was suspended earlier this year. The system, which had operated for nearly three years at a cost of millions of rupees, was designed to digitally document the details of people visiting prisoners and remand suspects across correctional facilities.
According to reports, the digital Prison Information Management System was discontinued in January. Instead, prison authorities have reverted to maintaining visitor records manually in physical books. This change has triggered concern among prison officials and security observers who warn that such a system is vulnerable to manipulation and data loss.
Sources indicate that the return to handwritten records has also made it easier to bypass official regulations governing prison visits. Under current rules, remand prisoners can receive visitors only once a month while suspects are allowed one visit per day. However, maintaining records in books reportedly allows these limits to be violated more easily.
There are also concerns that physical records may be damaged or lost. If pages are torn, destroyed, or misplaced, crucial visitor information including names, addresses, telephone numbers, identification numbers, and visit times could disappear permanently.
Prison insiders claim the computerized system was halted following orders from a senior prison official due to the high overtime payments required for data entry operators responsible for updating the system.
However, some prison sources say the issue could have been solved simply by appointing additional officers to manage digital records.
Previously, the computerized database allowed police and security forces to quickly access visitor information during criminal investigations.
